A Love Not At First Sight
by Alpaca desu
Summary: Some girls can be very slow in learning. The rumored creepy transfer student is a perfect example. She's so quiet, nobody thought she was this stupid. Moreover, she can't do a thing by herself. Until Allen Walker becomes her personal tutor that is! AU/Highschool. AllenxOC
1. Chapter 1

**D. Gray-Man © Katsura Hoshino**

* * *

Allen shifted awkwardly in his seat as he tried to hide his nervousness. The pair of eyes hidden under a curtain of long bangs keep on watching his every move. He never knew a girl could be this scary. No. Creepy is more fitting to describe her.

Miharu Yoshikuni, the transfer student, was rumored to be a stalker. That alone had made Allen pale. To make it worse, someone also said that Miharu had cursed someone who pulled a prank on her. The victim who was a stereotype school bully had somehow turned to a quiet, obedient student. It didn't sound bad, but it was actually very shocking. When the victim's cronies asked what happened, the poor boy only shook his head and walked away with a solemn look in his eyes.

The class had been peaceful after the incident. No one got bullied anymore, thanks to Miharu's curse. But everyone in the class had kept a distance from her. It seemed to them that the dark aura she emitted had grown thicker and heavier.

Allen usually pays no mind to rumor like this since he only cares about 3 things: his friends, his grades and food. He only learnt about Miharu recently because this past week he had felt a pair of eyes staring at him. He hadn't realized this for the first few days until Lavi had pointed it out.

"Hey, Allen. Um, I don't know if it's just me… But I think that creepy transfer student had been staring at you lately," whispered Lavi.

"I think that's pretty normal Lavi. I am a bit unusual after all. Not a lot of guys my age have white hair and a red arm."

"No… Didn't you know that rumor says she's a stalker?" countered back Lavi.

"What? Are you implying that she's stalking me? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know… Personal reasons, maybe? Or maybe she has a crush on you?"

"O-of course not!" sputtered Allen, bewildered. Road alone is enough.

"Be careful, Allen. You better watch out. You know that she cursed a guy before, right?" warned Lavi.

"That was just a rumor, Lavi. And you could've been mistaken. Her eyes were covered by her bangs so you can't say for sure where she's staring at. Maybe she's staring at the board?"

"No. I'm always right, Allen. I know she's staring at you all along!"

"Whatever, Lavi. If you're trying to scare me, I'm telling you I won't be scared that easily. I'm going to the cafeteria." Allen stood up from his seat and went out of the class, trying to settle the uneasiness he felt.

As much as he wanted to deny it, Allen knew Lavi wasn't joking. Allen hoped both him and Lavi were mistaken. He really did not want to be cursed twice, if that was possible.

* * *

The whole day at class, Allen felt Miharu's creepy stare giving him goose bumps and chills down his spine. He pulled at his collar and gulped nervously. Now is homeroom time and soon class will be dismissed. He can't wait. As soon as the bell will ring, he will bolt out of the classroom and pray that the rumor is just a rumor and she won't stalk him.

"Walker, Yoshikuni, stay here. I need to speak with you two after this," said Miranda-sensei, the homeroom teacher.

Allen gulped thickly. "Ye-yes, ma'am." Great. Is this the first stage of the curse, he wondered. He hoped that he's not in trouble.

Yoshikuni nodded. She rarely spoke out.

"Very well then. Class is dismissed."

With that, the students swarmed out, some sparing Allen a worried glance. Lavi patted Allen on the shoulder sympathetically before he went out to join Kanda and Lenalee.

"Yoshikuni, some teachers had been complaining about you," began Miranda-sensei, "it's not about your attitude. It's your grades. At this rate you might not pass the upcoming exams…"

Allen braved himself to look at Miharu. Her head lowered down. "I know," said her with small and hoarse voice. Allen had to strain his ears to hear her. "What can I do to improve them, sensei?"

"Studying by yourself won't cut it, I'm afraid. You rarely spoke out so I'm thought of having Walker help you personally, how's that?"

"Wha-?!" exclaimed Allen surprised. "My grades are not the best in class, sensei! Lavi and Lenalee are better, right?"

"The principal, Komui Lee, won't allow his precious little sister to stay late in school. And Lavi's guardian, Bookman, will also be burdened if he stay late in school too. I know Kanda is not the friendliest so that leaves you, Walker."

Allen is screwed. He didn't want to be mean, but he's genuinely scared of Miharu and her stares. Allen's mouth opened and closed and opened. He didn't know what to say in defense. He didn't really have a reason to refuse. His guardian, Cross, would not care at all. That demon will probably be delighted to know that Allen will have more work to do.

"Oh, and I'll give you bonus scores too if her scores improve, Walker," said Miranda-sensei with a smile.

Allen parted his lips and sighed. "Fine," he agreed at last.

"Good! Okay then, I'll leave you two now. Study well, Yoshikuni." With that, Miranda-sensei walked out, leaving Allen and Miharu alone. A tense and awkward atmosphere clouded the room.

Miharu stared at Allen, expecting him to start the conversation. Allen forced his lips to curl into a smile to melt the awkwardness. "H-hi, Yoshikuni. So, which subject are you struggling with?"

"All," she replied curtly.

Allen's eyes opened in shock. "Pardon?" asked him, his smile faltered slightly.

"Let's study math for today. There will be a quiz tomorrow, right?" said her, altering the topic.

Allen nodded slowly. "Yeah. Let's study math." He took out his math notebook and stood up to sit beside her. His steps are slow and hesitant. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Go ahead."

He sat as far away as possible from her in the seat, and then he opened his notebook and started to solve some problems. "You may ask if you don't understand anything."

"I don't understand everything."

His hands stopped writing and he faced her. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "Sorry to bother you," said her, head down while her fingers are fiddling with her pencil. Allen could've sworn he saw pink on her cheeks, but he brushed it off.

"No! It's okay. I'm here to help you anyways," replied him with a smile. "Okay then, we'll start from the basics..?"

She nodded again.

"May I borrow your textbook?" asked Allen. She gave him her textbook. After Allen opened it he started to explain each and every example problems on the chapter, sweatdropping at the silly doodles that covered some pages. He's too absorbed in explaining, almost forgetting that beside him is the girl who had creeped him out for the past few days. He scribbled down side notes too, because he's just too nice.

Once they've reached end of the portions for tomorrow's quiz, Allen asked, "Do you understand all that?"

Allen stared at her, expecting her to answer yes. He didn't want to repeat all that. Miharu stayed silent for a few seconds before he finally opened her mouth, "I guess…"

"Great! I wish you luck for tomorrow!" said Allen, relieved. Allen took his notebook and returned to his seat, gathered his stuff and shoved them into his backpack. "See you tomorrow," said the white-haired boy before he went out of the class swiftly, leaving Miharu behind. She sighed and let her forehead rest on the textbook.

* * *

As Allen walked home, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. Lavi. He flipped his phone open and answered.

"What's up, Lavi?"

"Beansprout! Are you okay!?" yelled Lavi on the other side.

"It's Allen!" yelled back Allen, annoyed. "And of course I am!"

"Phew… Lenalee and I was worried about you. Why did Miranda-sensei called you? Detention?"

"No… Miranda-sensei asked me to tutor her. She hasn't been doing well with most subjects and since you, Lenalee and BaKanda are out of the question…"

Lavi laughed. "Good luck! So how was it?"

"How was what?" asked Allen dumbly.

"Staying late with your creepy stalker, beansprout."

"It's Allen! She's not a stalker and she's actually not as creepy as everyone said. But it is true that she is creepy. And she barely showed any emotions."

Lavi laughed again. "Okay then. See ya tomorrow, beansprout! And be careful! It's pretty dark out by now. Don't get kidnapped or assaulted by gangs!"

An anger mark showed on his forehead. "It's Allen!" He heard Lavi laugh on the other side and he hung up.

Lavi's right. He need to rush back home. There had been incidents about several people missing lately. Suddenly he remembered about Miharu. Being a gentleman, he should've walk her home right? He stopped in his tracks and glanced back. Should he? He turned back his head forward and shook them. She would most probably refuse. From what it seemed, she dislikes company.

Allen tightened his grip on his backpack and quickened his pace. He need to get back home before Cross.

* * *

The class was silent. Every student was concentrating hard on the paper in front of them, jotting down answers at lightning speed. It seemed to everyone that the quiz was easier than usual, everyone except Miharu. She tried her best to put whatever she had learnt from Allen yesterday to the paper, but what she managed to put on the paper were only doodles. The doodles were actually kind of nice and she did not want to erase them.

"Five more minutes, class," said the teacher.

Miharu grabbed her eraser and quickly erased all of the doodles. With everything she knows about the subject, which is not much, she swiftly jot down whatever answer she could think of with untidy and big handwritings, hoping that the teacher will not be able to read it and will just give checkmarks and let her pass.

"Time's up." The teacher walked around class to collect the papers and the class was filled with chatters, mostly about the quiz being not as difficult as they have expected.

Miharu let the teacher pull the paper away from her. She then rested her forehead on the table, her brain worn out. Slowly her eyelids closed and sleep took her over.

Thirty minutes later, the teacher distributed the quiz paper back. Miharu's head shot up as she heard her name being called out. The look on the teacher's face is ugly as he called out her name. Miharu sighed softly, muttered a quick apology and took the paper from him, not bothering to look at her result to check if she passed or failed. She knew she failed. She crumpled the paper and shoved it in her skirt pocket.

* * *

"56 out of 10."

"Yeah… ha…ha…ha," she laughed bitterly.

Class had been dismissed and it's just the two of them. Today Allen chose to sit across her, turning the chair in front of her to face her. He folded the crumpled paper into two and returned it to her. "The passing score is 65."

"I know…"

She looked depressed and Allen suddenly felt the need to cheer her up a little. The dark aura surrounding her had lightened a little whenever it's just the two of them, but it's still there and her being depressed makes the aura darker. "Um… well, it's not that bad, actually. If you flip the numbers it will be 65! Hahaha!" joked Allen lamely.

She stared at Allen creepily and he shrunk a little. "We'll try our best to increase you score alright!"

A weak little smile graced her lips. "Thanks," muttered her. Allen was taken aback. That was the first time ever he had seen her show an expression that is…less creepy. That's good, right?

Allen grinned. "We'll revise your mistakes today. And please, if you don't get anything, ask. Okay?"

She nodded.

He took out his pencil and began to explain everything to her slowly while writing the correct solution beside her wrong ones. She listened intently, occasionally interrupting him to repeat what he said. He re-explained them patiently, trying his best not to give up and head desk. Honestly, he never knew a girl can be this…slow in learning.

By the time they have finished, the sky had gotten dark. They shoved their stuff inside their bags.

"Sorry for bothering you till this late," apologized Miharu, breaking the silence.

"Nah, it's quiet alright. I'm not bothered at all. In fact I understand the subject more by explaining them to you."

"Really? That's great. Thanks for today, Walker," said her with a small smile.

Allen couldn't help but smile back. Her smiles are very rare and he should consider himself lucky..? "You're welcome."

Miharu stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder, ready to stalk off the class.

"Yoshikuni," called Allen, stopping Miharu. She turned around and stared at him, expecting him to continue.

"Um… It's dark out there. Do you…do you want me to perhaps, walk you home?" asked Allen hesitantly.

Miharu sensed the hesitation in his voice. "Thanks, but I'll be alright by myself. Be careful on your way home, Walker."

Allen nodded. "Yeah… You too."

* * *

**Thanks for reading, people. =w= Next chapter will be more entertaining...I hope. XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**D. Gray-Man © Katsura Hoshino**

**A teeny bit of AllenxRoad in this chapter. **

* * *

A certain white haired boy sat at the white piano bench, his mismatched fingers gliding on the keys, producing a beautiful heart-wrenching melody. The look on his face is serious but gentle. His eyes traveled on the black and white keys, his fingers following closely. The teacher and the rest of the class huddled around him watching him and letting their emotions get carried away with the melody. Once his fingers stopped, the beautiful piece ended and the applause started.

"Nice, Walker," complimented the teacher.

He smiled and thanked him in reply.

Allen Walker is the class representative with good grades, gentlemanly behavior, and extraordinary talent in music. No doubt Miranda-sensei chose him to help a classmate in need. Allen really enjoyed his life as a person who is adored by his fellow classmates but everything has its downsides too. Normally he wouldn't mind helping anyone, but Miharu is an exception.

Said girl is now sitting in the corner of the studio by herself, her head down and gaze focused on her phone. Phone is strictly prohibited during school hours. The teacher noticed her breaching the school rules but he did nothing. Allen frowned. Don't tell him that even the teachers are scared of her…or maybe they simply did not care?

The teacher clapped his hands twice to attract the class. "Class, listen up!"

The chatters died down and all gazes were fixed on the teacher. The teacher began to explain, "For this term's project, you are required to form groups of four to six people and compose a song of your own. Working solo is not allowed. The project is due on the end of the term and your music score will depend on this project. Please work seriously."

A student shot his hand up. "I want to work with Walker!"

"No fair! Walker's with us!" argued another student.

"Hell no! He wouldn't want to work with you guys! Walker will work with me!"

"Who are you telling Walker who he should group up with?!"

The students start to bicker. Allen sweatdropped and tried to calm the class down. "Um, guys, please calm down… Listen…"

"OIIII!" yelled Lavi on top of his lungs.

The students stopped their quarrel and turned their heads to the red-haired boy.

"Allen is grouping up with Yuu, Lenalee and I," declared Lavi.

"Don't call me that! I'll turn you into a stew, stupid rabbit!" interrupted Kanda with an anger mark on his temple.

The students sighed in defeat, some grumbled and protested silently. They began to form their groups. Allen and his friends took the spot near the corner of the class to start discussing about the project. A little far beside them, Miharu sat in the corner, still focused on her phone.

As a good class rep, Allen should invite Miharu to join his group. And so that's what he did, ignoring the little voice in his head that voiced out no. Allen expected Miharu to refuse, because she didn't seem the type to work with people. But, to his surprise she flipped her phone close and nodded.

Lavi shifted in his seat with an uncomfortable expression on his face. Lenalee just smiled invitingly, being the nice vice class representative she is. Kanda turned his head away and che'd.

"Be nice, Kanda," said Lenalee.

"Che."

Miharu stood up, dragged her chair to their table and settled down between Allen and Lenalee.

"Yoshikuni," began Lenalee, "do you play any instruments?"

The raven haired girl shook her head.

The group went silent.

"Can you sing?" asked Lavi..

Miharu rarely talk, let alone sing. The answer is obvious. She shook her head again.

Kanda che'd. "What can you do, then, Sadako?" asked him irritated.

Lenalee elbowed Kanda. "Don't be rude!"

Lavi opened his mouth. "Um… Lenalee does the vocals, Allen on the keyboard, Yuu plays the guitar and I do the drums. Why don't you learn bass, Yoshikuni?"

Allen nodded. "Yeah. We still have a lot of time till the end of the term. If you are willing Kanda can teach you."

"No," disagreed Kanda. "You teach her, beansprout."

An anger mark popped on Allen's temples. "It's Allen!"

"Don't start it," warned Lenalee.

"Fine! I'll teach her _everything_!" said Allen annoyed.

"Good!" Lavi grinned. "Now that everything's settled, we'll leave everything else to Allen!"

"Why me?!" protested Allen.

"Because you're the musically talented class rep!" Lavi snickered.

Allen pouted and huffed cutely. "No fair."

"Lavi was joking," said Lenalee. "We'll work on it together, Allen."

"I wasn't!" denied Lavi.

"You were," convinced Lenalee. Then the bell rung, signaling the end of the period.

Allen's lips curled upwards into a face-splitting grin. "Lunch!" Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Do you want to have lunch with us, Yoshikuni?" offered Lenalee with a kind smile.

The three males gawked at Lenalee. "What?" queried the pigtailed girl in confusion. Then she turned to look at the other girl, waiting for her answer.

Miharu nodded slowly. Lenalee's smile widened. "Great! Come with us!"

They walked to the cafeteria, Lenalee beside Yoshikuni and the three males followed closely. Lavi whispered to Allen, "Allen, is this a move to stalk you? Did she hypnotize Lenalee or something to get close to you?"

"That is stupid, Lavi. If she's stalking me she would've hypnotized me instead. Lenalee's just being nice to her, that's not unusual."

"But you were shocked when Lenalee asked her to have lunch together."

Allen ignored Lavi's statement and continued to walk.

They stopped by at class to wait for Miharu to take her bento, and then they proceed to the cafeteria. Allen, Lenalee, Kanda and Lavi bought their food at the cafeteria and they went up to the rooftop to eat their meals.

They sat in a circle, Lenalee beside Miharu, Miharu beside Allen, Allen beside Lavi, Lavi beside Kanda, and Kanda beside Lenalee. As Miharu opened her bento, all eyes glanced out of curiosity. Their lips, except Kanda's, parted in awe. They didn't expect a bento that looked deliciously nutritious. There were rice, eggs, shrimp tempura and sausages neatly stuffed in the box which shined and sparkled in their eyes.

"Who made all that?" asked Allen, still gaping at the bento.

"I made it myself."

Allen's eyes lit up. "Really? You can cook?"

Miharu blushed slightly. "A little…" said her, fiddling with her chopsticks.

"I wanna tryyyy! May I?" asked Allen eagerly, preparing his chopsticks.

Miharu nodded and passed the bento to Allen. He picked up the golden tempura and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing it in a mere second. "It's good! May I try the eggs?"

The girl nodded again and Allen put the fluffy, yellow eggs into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it almost instantly. "The sausages looked appetizing too!"

This time Allen didn't bother to ask for permission and he shoved the meat in his mouth. Lavi and Lenalee sweatdropped at Allen as he continued to 'taste' Miharu's bento. Miharu can only stare at the boy, other thoughts running through her head.

"I think that's enough, Allen," said Lavi, taking the bento away from Allen and returning it to Miharu.

Allen whined. "But they were soooo good!"

Miharu stared at the half empty bento in her hand blankly. Her efforts early in the morning…

"Look, Allen! Now Yoshikuni had little left to eat!" scolded Lenalee.

"It's okay." Miharu reassured, while she picked up her chopsticks and began to eat Allen's leftovers.

Lenalee sighed. "No, it's not. Allen, share your food with her."

Allen hugged his pile of food dearly. "She said its okay!"

"You're shameless!" Lenalee snatched a melon bread from his pile of food and gave it to the silent girl. "Here you go, Yoshikuni."

"May I?" asked Miharu to Allen before taking it from Lenalee. Allen nodded sadly. "Yes…"

"Thank you."

They ate in silence until Lavi spoke up. "Err, Yoshikuni?"

Upon hearing her name, she stopped chewing and stared at Lavi. The redhead shuddered under her creepy stare. "I-I was just wondering… Why are you…Why did you…umm…distance yourself from everyone in class?"

Miharu blinked under her bangs and continued to chew and swallow. "I did not."

"Yes, you did."

"Then I don't mean to… I'm just a quiet person and a bit anti-social, maybe," answered her, playing with her food.

"That sounds like Yuu."

"Shut up, stupid rabbit."

Lenalee interrupted. "You're just shy! You should speak up a little."

"I-I'll try."

"I'll help you!" Lenalee encouraged. "Allen, Lavi and Kanda will help you get used to the class too!"

Allen and Lavi nodded. "Leave it to the class rep!" piped in Lavi. Allen laughed nervously.

"Che." We all know this is Kanda.

* * *

Class is dismissed, and it's just Allen and Miharu in the class. Today Allen decided to start teaching Miharu bass, from the very basic. Miharu agreed and so they walked to the music studio together. Allen is like, the best music student in class and he's the class rep too, therefore the music teacher entrusted him with a duplicate key for the studio.

"Here we are…" Allen opened the door and let Miharu enter before him. Miharu sat at a random chair, while Allen retrieved the lightest bass guitar and plugged it into the speaker. Then Allen dragged a chair and sat across from her.

"Do you know how to hold it?"

The girl shook her head.

"This is how you hold it." Allen passed the guitar to her, took her hands and positioned it correctly. She blushed lightly, not used with the physical contact, and Allen is oblivious to it.

Allen straightened and smiled. "Now try playing it!"

Miharu hesitated for a moment before she plucked a string. A thin and barely audible sound came out. "L-like th-that?" asked her, unsure.

Allen smiled but shook his head. "You don't pluck the string up. The sound will be very weak, you see. Pull your fingers across the string…" Allen took hold of her right index finger, earning a blush from the girl, and dragged it across the string. "Like that! Now try doing that same note repeatedly using your index and middle finger."

Miharu did as he told, concentrating fully. Allen watched her slightly trembling fingers moved across the strings. The notes came out steady at first, but it began to die down afterwards.

Allen chuckled lightly. "Your hands are getting tired?"

Her fingers stopped playing and nodded. "Yeah. My fingers are getting numb." She rubbed her index and thumb together.

"It's tiring and it may be a little painful at first but you'll get used to it. Your fingers are still soft now but it will harden eventually. Then you'll be able to play all day without any pain."

Miharu stopped and thought. Being able to play without pain will be great but her fingers will harden… Will that make her manly?

"What's wrong, Yoshikuni? You looked deep in thought."

She looked up and shook her head. "I-I'll do my best to master it soon."

"Yup. BaKanda won't be pleased if you slack off," joked Allen, half serious.

Then she noticed. Allen had a permanent smile on his face since they entered the studio. He must have loved music a lot.

* * *

Road Kamelot, the troublemaker from next class, was just doing her usual thing after school. The spiky-haired girl was 'patrolling' the corridor. She popped her sucker out of her mouth and stopped in her tracks. She strained her ears and heard a faint chatter from the music studio. That is strange. The studio should be unoccupied by now; the dismissal bell had rung about an hour ago. Curiosity kicked in and therefore she strode towards the studio and barged in like she owned the place.

Both the room occupants whipped their heads towards the intruder almost instantly. Road's eyes widen in delight as she saw Allen. Allen had no time to prepare himself before Road's petite body crashed into Allen in a bone-crushing hug, the impact sending both of them on the floor.

"Road!" Allen tried to get up but she straddled his hips. "Heya, Allen!" chirped Road.

"Can you get off me?"

Road shook her head. "Nu-uh. I missed you, Allen!"

Allen struggled to get up. However, Road is stronger than she looked. Allen could have just pushed her off but he won't ruin his 'gentleman' image to anyone except Kanda.

Miharu could only stay in her seat and watch them with a poker face. After a few minutes of struggling, Allen managed to unattach himself from Road who is now pouting cutely in disappointment. Then her eyes flickered towards Miharu. An amused grin replaced her pout.

"Ooh! I know who you are!" Road turned to face the silent girl. "You're Miharu Yoshikuni! The creepy, dumb new girl from Allen's class!" Road stopped for a second before she continued. "But my grades are just as bad as yours so I shouldn't have called you dumb." She grinned cheekily. "Sorry!"

"Road, stop badmouthing her."

Road turned to Allen and smiled. "Aw! You are such a kind class rep!" She brought her index finger on her chin in a thinking pose. "What are you two doing here? I never knew Allen and Miharu-chan are close."

"I was teaching her bass for the music project. What are _you_ doing here? School was dismissed an hour ago."

"Just taking a walk around the school. I do this every schooldays. Oh, and sometimes on weekends too."

Allen raised an eyebrow quizically. "Why?"

Road showed him a cheeky grin. "Curiosity kills the cat, Allen," said her in a sing-sang tone, "right, Miharu-chan?" Road's eyes twinkled with mischief. Miharu stayed silent.

"You're so quiet! Not fun."

"Road, if you want to stay here, please just stay quiet and don't interfere. I have to teach Yoshikuni now."

"I'll leave you two now. I have other jobs to do as well." Road winked, pivoted and strode to the door.

"Good luck, Miharu-chan," said Road before the door slammed shut. She popped her sucker back in her mouth and use her other hand to pull her phone out and began to type at lightning speed.

_To: Earl_

_Cc: _

_Subject: Road reporting 3 _

_Let's have dinner together with all the family members tonight~ We need to discuss some things._

She snapped her phone shut, pocketed it and continued her steps.

* * *

**I'll stop it here for now. Thank you for reading this chapter. Special thanks to those who reviewed last chapter :D And thank you also for the faves and alerts!**

**Oh! I don't own Sadako from The Ring! XP**


	3. Chapter 3

**D. Gray-Man © Katsura Hoshino**

* * *

Allen Walker could tackle every subject in school. Math, Biology, Chemistry, History, PE, and the rest. However, that is too good to be true. Truthfully, Allen does have a weakness in a subject.

"Class, attention please!" Allen stood in front of the board, Lenalee by his side. Once the class had settle down, Lenalee began, "Tiedoll-sensei is in a teacher's meeting now. Actually, all the teachers are attending the meeting now. And so there's no substitute teacher but please behave and do your work!" Allen gestured towards the board. "This is the assignment."

On the board, there's neat cursive handwriting which belonged to none other than Tiedoll-sensei. It read: Form pairs and draw a portrait of your partner. I'll be back by the end of the period to collect them.

Allen and Lenalee returned to their seats. As his friends are preparing their sketchbooks and pencils, Allen thought to himself. Lavi, Kanda and Lenalee knew that Allen is simply horrible at drawing, especially portraits. Pairing up with Kanda is an absolute no-no. If he paired up with Lenalee, Komui will chop his hands off for drawing an ugly portrait of her. So that leaves Lavi.

Allen turned to face Lavi. "Hey, Lavi, let's—"

"No, Allen. An ugly version of my handsome face drawn by you is the last thing I want to see."

Allen frowned. "Then you don't have to see..?"

"I'm pairing up with Yuu!" said him enthusiastically, slinging an arm over Kanda's shoulder.

"Don't call me that, stupid rabbit!"

Allen sighed sadly. Lenalee saw this and offered, "Want to be my partner, Allen?"

Allen's face went as white as his hair as he thought of Komui's reaction when he'll see Allen's portrait of Lenalee. "I-I think I'll pass, Lenalee."

Lenalee's head tilted in confusion. "Hmm? Why?"

"Erm… Drawing beautiful girls aren't easy! I'm thinking of pairing up with someone else! With…" Allen's eyes scanned the class, looking for anybody who probably wouldn't mind being the victim of his hands' poor artistic skill. His eyes stopped at Miharu, who is again sitting in the corner by herself. This time, the girl is scribbling something on her sketchbook. "With Yoshikuni! Nobody's partnering up with her so I'll pair up with her!"

Lenalee smiled at the indirect compliment. "Thanks, Allen. But Yoshikuni will be hurt if she heard that!"

Allen rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I didn't mean it like that! I was just scared of Komui." He laughed stiffly.

Lenalee pouted. "Fine."

Allen flashed a smile in apology before he approached Miharu bringing his sketchbook, pencil, and eraser along.

"Yoshikuni," called Allen. The girl closed her sketchbook and looked up. "Yes?"

"Want to pair up with me?"

She nodded. "Sure."

Allen smiled. He dragged a chair and sat across her, a table in between them. Miharu stared at him creepily like she used to. Allen shifted in his seat, feeling uncomfortable. "I-Is something the matter?" asked Allen, a nervous smile plastered on his face.

She shook her head then she looked down and opened her sketchbook, tore and crumpled a page, and she began sketching. Allen blinked. He stared at her for a few seconds. Was she studying his face just now?

The crumpled paper which Miharu tore just now grabbed his attention. Out of curiosity, Allen decided to see what was drawn or written there. He was about to take the ball of paper when suddenly Miharu stopped sketching and her cold hands slapped his hand away gently. Allen was surprised by her action. His eyes traveled to her bangs, trying to search for her eyes behind the curtain of hair.

The girl took the crumpled ball and pocketed it. "It's just an embarrassing doodle," said her after a short moment of silence.

"Oh, okay."

Allen opened his sketchbook and began to try to draw a decent portrait of Miharu. As he sketched, a thought came across his mind out of the blue. How did Miharu got into Black Order High? This school is one of the most prestigious schools in Japan and ungifted students don't simply get in. If he wasn't mistaken, Lenalee said that the school will only accept students who passed all the entrance exams. The entrance exams were very difficult, he's sure even Kanda will admit that. Wait, maybe not. Kanda is a cocky idiot after all. Anyway, it took Allen months of extensive preparations to get the scholarship and Allen is a pretty smart student to begin with. And Allen is sure that Yoshikuni should've failed the exams with her scores that needed desperate help.

His eyes moved to glance at her face. Although the upper half of her face is not visible, he could tell that her eyes were really focused on her task at hand. She looked up and stared at Allen occasionally then she resumed her work.

Eventually, Allen grew bored of sketching and he watched her draw instead. He had never seen the girl so absorbed in doing something. He placed his elbow on the table and propped his chin on the back of his palm, sending a lazy gaze in her direction.

"Yoshikuni, don't your bangs get in the way of your sight?" he asked out of the blue.

"I'm used to it," replied her, hands still sketching.

"Why don't you cut it? Or pin it up?"

"I like it this way."

Allen nodded and the conversation died. Moments later, she stopped sketching and closed her sketchbook.

"Are you finished?" asked Allen.

She nodded.

Allen's eyes twinkled in eagerness. "May I see it?"

Heat traveled to her cheeks and she shook her head.

Allen whined in disappointment. "Why? Is it that bad? Just a little peek?"

She tightened her grip on her sketchbook. Allen sent her a pleading look. She tried to ignore it but she failed in the end, and the sketchbook is now in Allen's hands. Allen grinned in victory and opened her sketchbook. Then his jaw dropped. Allen clearly did not expect this.

Who knew that she can draw decently?

"May I have it back?" asked her timidly while her fingers fiddled with her pencil.

Allen nodded and gave it back. It was her turn to shift in her seat uncomfortably as Allen gawked at her. She looked left and right while thinking of something to say. "What?" She finally asked.

"You drew me really well, Yoshikuni!" praised Allen, eyes twinkling in awe.

The door opened and Tiedoll-sensei walked in. "Alright, class! Hand in your artworks! Place it on my desk."

Allen waited for all the students to submit their works before he walked up to the teacher's desk and sneakily slipped his work at the bottom of the pile. _Nobody_ can see his portrait of Miharu. He prayed that she wouldn't get offended if she saw it.

* * *

Miharu opened her locker and took out her PE uniform, hanging it at the locker door. She undressed and changed into the PE uniform, dusting the imaginary dust off her shorts before shoving her uniform into the locker and slamming the door shut.

She loved Fridays. It's the last weekday a school and there are two of her favorite subjects besides lunch and homeroom time, art and PE. She had to admit that she's not good at PE, but most of the girls in her class were nor good at it either. She just loved being out of class.

She walked out of the girls' locker room and headed to the basketball court downstairs. The usual early and energetic ones, that included Allen and his friends, were already here warming up with the new PE teacher, Tyki Mikk-sensei. Their former PE teacher had quit last week with unclear reasons and he was replaced with the foreigner teacher. Miharu actually liked their former teacher because he never complained about her half-assed behavior during PE. But Mikk-sensei never told her to get her butt off the ground and participate so she didn't mind him, for now. And most of the female population in the class didn't mind him _at all_ either since Mikk-sensei is _very_ charming. The locker room which was usually filled with whines and protests before PE is now filled with the girls' enthusiastic squeals and improper remarks such as "I want to have his babies!" or "I wouldn't mind him raping me!" or something along those lines. Miharu shuddered in horror at the thought. Fan girls in her class could be really scary.

Brushing the thoughts aside, she sat at the ground at the corner outside the court and watched them warming up. She averted her glance to meet the girls as they walked in the court with their groups, giggling like the love struck schoolgirls they are while looking flirtatiously at Mikk-sensei. Miharu wondered how the teacher acted like he didn't notice them when it's so obvious.

"We're playing basketball today." The Portuguese man didn't even need to do anything to gain the whole class' attention. Half of the class, to be precise, the girls excluding Lenalee and some other 'unaffected ones', cheered "Okay~" in reply. And she was the only one who remained seated. Usually most of the girls would ignore the teacher and sit outside the court like what she's doing right now but it seemed like Mikk-sensei's charm overpowered their laziness.

They divided themselves into four groups, two boys group and two girls group. Miharu still refused to join in even though she's the only person outside the court. She did not want the class to know that she's also bad a PE. That will be embarrassing. In most cases, students that were not gifted academically would be outstanding at PE.

The first game was girls against girls. The guys sat outside the court and watched most of the girls played clumsily while Mikk-sensei who acted as the referee blew the whistle and sweatdropped a lot. She wasn't surprised. It was the first time she saw the girls got up and play. She felt like she shouldn't insult them though, because she knew she would do worse than them if she tried.

After some time, Mikk-sensei grew tired of correcting their way of playing and stopped paying attention altogether. Then his golden orbs wander to the lone female figure seated outside the court. Miharu sensed his stare and looked up. She was glad that her bangs covered he upper half of her face otherwise he would've found out that she's a bit intimidated at his penetrating stare. Something in those golden pools just sparked off something that made a shiver ran up her spine.

She tensed as the dark-skinned man approached her. Unconsciously, she scooted back a bit as Mikk-sensei crouched down to her eye-level.

"Why are you not playing? Are you a boy?" Mikk-sensei teased playfully with a grin.

A faint blush crept up her face and she frantically shook her head left and right, her hair almost slapping the man in front of her. "I…I…I…" She did not have a proper alibi. "Uh… I am just…" She gnawed at her bottom lip nervously.

"Lazy," finished Mikk-sensei.

"Yeah… I mean no!"

Mikk-sensei passed her an amused look then he chuckled. "Sure… Then get up and join the others."

"I can't… I…sprained my ankle," she lied.

"I saw you walked here just fine."

"No you didn't," blurted her without thinking. Then she mentally slapped herself. That was just the worst comeback directed towards a teacher.

As if the situation couldn't get any worse, Allen had 'casually' walked over and joined the conversation.

"You're the class rep?" Mikk-sensei asked, shooting Allen a brief glance.

"Yes. Something wrong with Yoshikuni?" He asked back.

"She said she sprained her ankle," said Mikk-sensei with a teasing smirk directed at her.

"Oh…" Allen looked at the girl, slight worry in his silver orbs. "Do you need to go to the sick bay?"

"No!"

Allen raised a brow at her immediate negative response. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"My ankle is not…hurt…" She took a strand of her hair and twisted it with her fingers to relief her nervousness. Then she puffed her cheeks and huffed. "I can't play basketball," admitted her.

"I knew that. Most of the females in his class can't play," remarked Mikk-sensei snidely.

"Why don't you give it a try first?" Allen asked kindly, ignoring Mikk-sensei.

She shook her head again and Mikk-sensei had to lean away to avoid the incoming slap from her hair. "No. I have a stomachache."

Both males sighed. Another obvious lie.

"Well, if you don't participate, I can't give you more than a D, Miss Yoshikuni."

Allen inwardly panicked. If Miharu failed, he won't get the bonus score Miranda-sensei promised him. "Give it a try, Yoshikuni! You'll never know until you try!" Allen encouraged with his signature smile. He knew he seemed a bit selfish, but it's not only for his benefit. It's for her and the class' average too.

"Yeah. You talk to her about it and supervise the class. I'm going for a smoke."

With that, Mikk-sensei straightened and left. Allen frowned. Teachers were not allowed to take a break as they pleased during classes. And he made Allen took his responsibility of watching after the class too! Allen decided that this new teacher is annoying and irresponsible. He obeyed anyways. The white-haired boy took a seat beside Miharu and kept an eye on the class. Soon enough, the girls realized Mikk-sensei's absence and stopped playing. Allen got up and joined the guys play.

Miharu stood up and climbed upstairs to the locker room to change back into her uniform. All she did there was sit and watch so she figured that she better stop wasting time and have an early break. She had to practice bass for the project during breaks so Kanda won't get pissed at her inadequacy. Practicing at home would be impossible because she didn't have the instrument at home.

After she was done changing, she took out her bento from class and climbed upstairs to the rooftop, her shoes made no sound as they padded slowly up the stairs. Her hand touched the metal doorknob and twisted it. The door refused to open. She frowned. That was strange because the door was usually left unlocked by the janitors. Her head tilted in a thinking a pose. Did the janitors lock it by mistake?

The dark-haired girl was about to turn around and head back to class but a familiar voice came from the other side of the door and halted her. Curiosity kicked in and she shifted closer to the door, trying to identify the owner of the muffled voice.

"Millenie…Allen…class 2-3…"

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. She failed to make out what they were saying but she swore she heard them mentioned Allen's name. The voice belonged to a girl, she's sure of it. Miharu slid her eyelids shut and concentrate to find out more.

"The Earl…brother…traitor…son…"

The voice switched to a male's voice. So there were at least two persons there. She mentally slapped herself upon realizing her dumbness. Of course there was more than one person. Why would anybody talk to themselves on the rooftop?

"…capture him…"

Miharu's eyes snapped open at this. All sorts of negative thoughts swam through her head. Then she suddenly remembered about the case of the missing students. Before she had the chance to think further, she heard several footsteps approaching the door from the other side. She froze in place and the door opened roughly, revealing two figures one with ashen skin and the other with a darker complexion. Two pairs of golden eyes reflecting malice stared down at her.

They're Tyki Mikk's and Road Kamelot's.

"Hello, Miharu-chan," Road greeted with her trademark smirk. "Were you eavesdropping?"

Miharu gulped.

* * *

**There you go! The third chapter.**

**Thank you for you time, reviews, and faves! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**D. Gray-Man © Katsura Hoshino**

* * *

Miharu's lips morphed into a thin line and cold sweat began to form on her palms as she thought of a believable response. She put on her usual poker face and threw back a question nonchalantly.

"Were you talking about anything interesting that I should've listened in to?"

Road flashed a toothy smirk. "Truthfully, yes."

"Aren't you supposed to stay at the basketball court?" questioned back Tyki. "Geez, that boy can't keep an eye on the class?"

"You're not supposed to take a break and leave the class to Walker's care either, Mikk-sensei," reprimanded Miharu, doing her best to conceal her growing fear.

Tyki smirked. "You're right, Miss Yoshikuni… but…" He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his pocket then he proceeded to scribble quickly on it. He handed it to Miharu, his smirk widening. "I still had to give you the punishment for ditching class."

Miharu scanned the paper he gave. A small frown settled on her lips. It's a detention slip. She sighed and pocketed it. "Fine," she mumbled half-heartedly.

"Oh, and you'll get on too, Road." Tyki passed her a similar piece of paper.

The petite girl huffed yet she took the slip of paper nonetheless. "Well, at least Miharu-chan will accompany me later! We'll have lots of fun this evening! Just the here of us!"

Miharu looked at her questioningly but Road can't see it since her bangs were in the way. How can she have fun at detention? Wasn't detention supposed to be an unmemorable punishment? She wondered if Road planned to do something unexpected. That girl is always full of surprises, in a bad way. Ever since she first met Road, she had learnt to expect the unexpected.

The bell rang signaling the start of lunch break. Tyki left, waving his hand in a farewell gesture before he did so. Miharu and Road were left alone facing each other with a heavy tension in the atmosphere surrounding them. Miharu still had her poker face on and Road is smirking at her, seeming to be able to tell her false expression. The shorter girl pulled out a lollipop from her skirt pocket, unwrapped it and licked it, her tongue moved agonizingly slow against the candy. She then stopped and her expression switched into a serious one.

"Miharu-chan did you really hear nothing at all?"

Miharu resisted the urge to gulp in fear and nodded soundlessly. She did not hear the full conversation so she's half truthful, right?

Road took a step closer to the taller girl. "I hope you're not lying. If we caught you lying something really bad might happen…" Road's lips curled into a small but sadistic smirk, and then she continued, "…to you."

"Pardon?" Miharu's hands grew clammy but she's relieved that she had successfully restrained herself from stuttering. Now she's sure that whatever Road and Tyki were plotting nothing good. She's conflicted between keeping what she heard to herself and asking Allen about it. The latter seemed much more risky but it seemed like the right thing to do.

As if on cue, footsteps were heard approaching both of them and Allen emerged at the door, a pile of food in his clutches. Miharu almost sighed in relief.

"Yoshikuni! So you were here all this time. You might get detention if the teachers find out you were skipping class, you kno—"

Allen stopped his lecture as she pulled out the detention slip from her pocket and waved it lightly in the air. He heaved a disappointed sigh. "Looks like we won't have tutor session today."

"Tutor session?" Road tilted her head slightly. "You two stayed back everyday after school for that?"

Allen bit his bottom lip at his tongue slip and nodded hesitatingly.

Road puffed her cheeks childishly and crossed her arms. "No fair, Miharu-chan! You totally knew I liked Allen and you didn't tell me about this? My scores need help too! Ne, Allen, may I join you two?"

Miharu grew alert at her question and she peered at Allen. Both girls waited for Allen's reply. The boy stayed silent, refusing to answer.

"Just for today?" begged Road.

"We have detention this evening," reminded Miharu.

"Right. Okay then, tomorrow?" asked Road again, her eyes glittered with hope.

Allen gave up and nodded silently after pondering for a few seconds and Road cheered.

"Thank you, Allen!" Road jumped up and glomped Allen, almost knocking his food off his hands.

Miharu stared at them in worry and slight disappointment glimmering in her eyes. It's not that she disliked being around Road… Okay she did dislike being around Road. But if she hadn't heard anything Road and Mikk-sensei discussed earlier she probably wouldn't mind that much. She was worried that Road would do something bad to Allen. Like, capturing him, as she heard from Road's and Mikk-sensei's secret conversation. Now that she thought of that, why would they want to kidnap Allen? She thought Road liked Allen?

Road released Allen and twirled around. "Bye, you two! I have matters to attend to." Then she strode off, tossing the lollipop wrapper from before behind her.

Allen and Miharu were left alone with a moment of silence accompanying them. Allen rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably and Miharu played with a loose string at the hem of her shirt. For an unknown reason, she grew nervous and shy, even shier than usual, around Allen. She guessed it was just because Allen was very nice to her despite her abnormal dumbness and creepiness.

"Let's eat our lunches," Allen said, breaking the silence.

"Y-yes."

Miharu moved first and tucked herself at a corner. Allen followed and seated himself across her. They ate their lunches in silence. With Allen's accelerated inhuman eating speed, he finished his food in a couple of minutes. Since the subject before was PE he needed to replenish his energy faster than usual. Then he glanced up at Miharu and her half-eaten lunch.

"Yoshikuni?" called Allen. The girl swallowed her food and looked up, urging Allen to continue. Allen cleared his throat and asked carefully, "What were you and Road talking about?"

"N-Nothing," answered her shortly and hesitantly. She kind of wanted to tell Allen about Road and Mikk-sensei, but she's scared of hem finding out.

"Oh…" Allen had a distant look at his face. He had a feeling that she's hiding something but decided not to pry into hers and Road's business.

Miharu shoved the last bite into her mouth and closed the lid of her lunch box. As soon as she's done chewing and swallowing, she spoke up, "I have to go to the music studio now. Excuse me."

She stood up but Allen stopped her before she walk away. "Wait."

Miharu looked at the seated boy. "Yes?"

"The studio is locked during breaks." Allen pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. "I'll open them for you," offered him waving the keys, producing a jingling noise.

"O-oh. Thank you," thanked her shyly, her head tilted down slightly.

Allen grinned. "Don't mention it! I'm happy that you use your break time to practice!" Allen straightened and they walked to the studio together.

"Y-yeah… I just feel like it," she lied. She practiced because she's scared of Kanda.

Allen's eyes lit up at this. "You've taken an interest in music?" asked him.

"A little..?" Actually, not at all. She cursed herself for her inability to speak her mind.

"Great! Now we have an interest in common!" stated Allen a bit enthusiastically.

"Y-yeah…" She felt happy that Allen tried to get along with her but Allen's words just made her realize that they were polar opposites. Allen was good at all subjects and she only had decent score in art. Allen had many friends and admirers and she had none. Allen was loved by their classmates and she was called a creepy stalker by them. Even Allen's white hair and her black hair contrasted.

She abruptly stopped her train of thoughts and slapped herself mentally. She was not going back to depressed mode. Think happy thought, think happy thoughts. She chanted in her mind. Then she racked her brains for sweet, bright things that lighten up her mood. Cooking, baking…

"Macaron…" She let out accidentally with a hint of dreamy tone and saliva collecting in her mouth. Her hand quickly flew to her mouth upon realizing what she had just said.

Allen obviously heard this and he perked up. "Macaron?" echoed him. "You like sweets?"

Her face went beet red and her hand slowly dropped down to her side. Her tilted down in a small nod in the process.

"Me too! Especially mitarashi dango!" Allen had stars twinkling in his eyes and his mouth started to water in a comical fashion.

The blush at her cheeks lessened and she stifled laughter while her hand flew up to cover her mouth again. "I can make you some, if you want."

Allen whipped his head to face her and nodded rapidly. "Please do! Your cooking reminded me of Jerry's heavenly dishes!"

"Jerry?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"You don't know Jerry? He's the best cook in town!" Allen flailed his arms in the air in an excited manner. "I'll take you to his restaurant someday!" Then a barely visible pink tint appeared on his cheeks. "With Lavi and Lenalee too, of course," added him afterwards.

"You don't have to…" She trailed off.

"I have to!" Allen persisted. "You have to taste at least one of his dishes!"

The girl nodded unsurely, a bit bewildered by Allen's enthusiasm about food. "Okay…"

Allen's grin widened. "Awesome!"

Miharu let her lips relaxed into a tiny smile.

Once they arrived at the door of the music studio, Allen unlocked the door and let Miharu walk in then he followed after. The girl picked up the bass guitar from that day and settled on a random chair.

Allen decided to let her fiddle with the bass alone and he strolled to the white piano at the center of the room. He seated himself on the clean white bench, lifted up the cover of the piano and let her finger hover above the keys. Just when he's about to press down on the keys, he felt Miharu's stare on him and he averted his gaze to the girl at the corner.

Miharu quickly looked down and fumbled with the bass guitar. Allen thought he saw her blush but he shrugged it off and shifted his attention back to the piano in front of him.

His fingers began to work their magic, producing the same symphony Allen usually played as they danced on the keys gracefully. Miharu slowly lifted her head up to watch Allen as the boy concentrated on the piano. Behind her thick dark bangs, her eyes were filled with awe and adoration. They went unnoticed by Allen.

When the music ended, Miharu braved herself to ask Allen. "Umm, Walker?" She called hesitantly.

The boy turned his head upon hearing his last name, gesturing for her to continue.

"Wh-who created that piece? You seem to like it a lot…" She asked timidly.

Allen curled his lips into a smile that did not reach his eyes. "My father and I composed it together."

"Th-that's cool! Your father is a pianist?"

Allen's eyes traveled back to stare at the monochrome colored keys as he answered, "He's a musician. He was pretty famous…back then."

Miharu didn't notice Allen's faltering smile and cocked her head. "Back then?" muttered her, barely audible. She then raised her voice and asked, "Wha-whats's his name? I might know him…"

"Mana Walker," he answered concisely.

"That name does ring a bell," She muttered under her breath again. Her index finger moved up to settle under her chin in a thinking pose as she racked her brain. Her mom loved music a lot so she knew many musicians through her rants.

"Ah!" Her index finger flew from under her chin and pointed the air above in realization. "I've heard of him before! My mom loved his piece…umm… The 14th Melody, was it? The piece that he and his son composed together…"

Miharu stopped blabbering when she finally noticed the melancholic expression painted on Allen's gentle facial features. She zipped her mouth shut immediately although she did not know why Allen looked so down. He was always happy when he's in the music studio. She forced the gears in her brain to rotate to find the reason why Allen was sad. Minutes passed in silence and she still didn't know why Allen had that expression on. She felt bad for some reason. Did she brought up an unpleasant topic?

Then it clicked in her awfully slow brain. ManaWalker had passed away years ago.

Instantly, she felt terrible and guilty for asking and making him remember about that. Her face mirrored Allen's expression unconsciously. Allen's forlorn gaze was transfixed on the piano while hers was on the bass guitar on her lap.

"S-sorry," apologized the dark-haired girl, still looking down.

Allen shifted his gaze to meet her face. She looked so sad Allen thought she was going to tear up.

His sad look was wiped off almost instantly. "Don't apologize, Yoshikuni!" Allen responded immediately, after he saw the look at half her face. He disliked making girls cry. If Lavi was here he'll definitely start to blame Allen for making her cry. He approached her cautiously and bent down to her eye-level. Then he panicked a little when he saw her bottom lip twitched.

"D-don't cry!"

Miharu looked up and her sad expression dissolved into her usual poker face. Allen breathed a sigh in relief mentally.

"I wasn't going to cry…" replied her. She's too shy to let her tears fall in front of people.

Allen straightened up. "That's good. I wouldn't know what to do if you cried!"

Miharu cracked a tiny smile as she noticed the sad look in Allen's eyes disappeared. Allen glanced down at her and smiled back indistinctly.

"Let's get to practice now. We have no time to waste since you got detention."

Miharu pouted a little. She had forgotten a little about the incident and Allen just had to remind her about it. It will be just Road, Mikk-sensei and her. She felt a bit uneasy at the thought.

"Fine," replied her, swallowing the little anxiety she felt.

* * *

**Sorry it took me so long to update DX It's vacation time and I don't have much time to write. It's weird I get busier when there's no school. "sigh" I'll blame my family and internet connection problems for this..?**

**I don't know why but I don't like this chapter -_-"**

**This ff will be in a short hiatus till January. Sorry TTATT**

**I'll be away from my family when school starts and I'll have more personal space so I can update faster! Because here as I'm typing my siblings were peering through my shoulders and reading it. So uncomfortable =_=**

**I'll post an extra long chapter next time I update!**

**Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting and alerting this. I love you!**

**Happy holidays, people! Till next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**D. Gray-Man © Katsura Hoshino**

* * *

Miharu tightened her grip on the bag strap over her stiff shoulder and dragged her feet down the crowded corridor. Her head was hung down, letting her long black locks shield her face from the passing students, like a ghost. Nobody paid much attention though and she won't complain. When people gave her attention, what she got was those unpleasant, weird stares.

It was Friday evening. Class was dismissed minutes ago and groups of students were filling the hallway with their chatters and laughter to the brim. While here, she had a detention to attend to. Her first detention ever. Usually when she skipped class the teacher would let her slide because of the rumor that she cursed people. She was a bit taken aback when Mikk-sensei had the guts to send her to detention. Maybe he hadn't heard about the rumors yet?

Earlier, before she got out of the class, Allen had managed to stop her. He gave her a pretty thick pile of notes to revise and sample math problems for her to do at home during the weekends. It's because she had detention today and they can't have their usual tutor session, he said. Miharu can't hate Allen for that because that's his job, to make sure she study well and pass the mid-terms.

"Hey, I need some new clothes for tomorrow's date. Let's go to Shinjuku to shop!" She heard a girl said to her friends. A chorus of "yeah!" came in reply and they walked away with happy grins on their pretty faces.

Our depressed heroine sighed as the girls skipped pass her. She had lived for approximately fifteen years and she had nobody to call a friend, let alone boyfriend. And her surroundings weren't cheering her up. Instead she felt burdened by her surroundings and the fact that she's too anti-social. If she had to be honest, she did too feel a teensy bit lonely.

Then the tired look on her face was replaced with an alarmed one as she heard a cheery feminine voice called out from her back. She did not need to turn around to know whose voice was it, but she pivoted anyway to greet her back.

"Miharu-chan~"

"Yes, Kamelot-san?"

Road stopped her steps to pout and cross her arms. "Don't call me that. I though we're friends now! Call me Road!"

Miharu muttered an apology although she couldn't agree with that. She had scared her to death just hours ago. How were they friends? Miharu never had friends but she knew that friends don't scare each other like that.

"S-sorry, Road..?'

Road smirked in approval. "Let's walk to detention together~!" She sang while her nimble legs skipped towards Miharu. The taller of the two nodded though unsure and they walked together.

"It's the first time I had a detention with a quiet one like you, Miharu-chan. Usually the twins kept me company."

"The twins?" Miharu queried.

"You know, Jasdero and Devit. The blonde and black haired punks a year above us. They're pretty popular," explained Road.

"Oh, yes. I think I know them. You're pretty close to the sophomores, aren't you?"

"Yup!" replied Road with a grin. "You know why?"

"…No," answered Miharu after pondering for a few seconds.

"We're relatives! Well, sort of. We're not like, blood related."

Miharu nodded slowly. "I see… You are alike personality wise though."

The smaller girl giggled. "Yes! We share our devilish side. It's in our blood, you see. Even though we're not blood related."

"I see…" Miharu repeated with a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh. We're here."

Road opened the door to he classroom and he smell of cigarettes filled their nostrils. On the teacher's table, their curly-haired PE teacher sat cross-legged with a cigarette in between his right index and middle finger, smoke spewed out from his mouth and nostrils. Mikk-sensei's lazy gaze traveled to the two girls upon hearing the door opening.

"Oh, hello. Please take a seat," he said lazily, not really looking at their direction anymore while his free hand pointed at the empty seats littered neatly in the class.

"Hi, Tyki!" Road greeted. The girl walked up to him and hugged his waist briefly in an affectionate manner then she took a seat on one of the tables in front of the teacher's desk.

Miharu had a bewildered expression slapped on her face when she saw their closeness. It's not normal for students to greet teachers that way, right? Then why…did Mikk-sensei looked unaffected by it? Could they be…lovers? She inwardly gasped. That's a horror. That couldn't be true. She should really stop thinking that way. They must be relatives, she ensured herself.

"Miharu-chan, aren't you going to sit down?" asked Road, looking at the long-haired girl peculiarly.

"A-ah! Of course!" The girl bowed a little and greeted the teacher politely. "Evening, sensei." The second after, she scurried off to a seat by the window as far away as possible from the two other occupants of the room.

Road pulled out a lollipop from her bag, unwrapped I and she brought her mouth to the candy to nibble it.

"I'm boooored," whined her not long after. "Let's do something fun!"

Already? They had just been in the room for no more than two minutes.

"The twins should be here soon," said Tyki, smoke puffed out from his parted lips.

Road's eye lit up like an excited child upon hearing that. "Really?"

Unlike Road, Miharu didn't have a positive reaction to that. She sense trouble. Maybe to Road trouble is fun.

As if answering Road's query, the door slammed open with a bang and two students with black make-up on their faces and messy uniforms entered. The black-haired one stepped in first and the long-haired blonde followed after with a rooster clucking noisily on his crown of golden locks. In the corner of the room, Miharu had a stupefied look plastered on her face upon the entry of the two, err, three including the farm animal.

Road grinned widely at their entry. "Jasdero! Devit!"

"Yo," greeted Tyki.

"I can't believe the school prohibits chickens!" The black-haired win complained, ignoring Road's and Tyki's greetings while he let his butt fell to the table nearest to the door and he threw his bag to the chair. "What harm can a single chicken do?" He crossed his arms childishly.

"Yes, hii!" The blonde twin chimed, following his twin's movements. "It's not even ours!"

"Whose chicken is it then?" Road asked, glancing at the two.

"Who knows!? It was the only damn thing left there besides his hat when we had finally located that damn Cross!" answered Devit hotly, a pissed off look contorted on his face.

"So you two failed your task?" Tyki asked in a mocking fashion.

Devit scoffed. "Look who's talking. You haven't even touched your task!"

Hearing their bickers and complaints, Miharu silently wondered what task they were discussing about. Was it a school task?

"Is it okay to talk about our jobs when there's a stranger here?" asked Jasdero, pointing at Miharu who had a blank look on her face.

Devit jumped in his seat as his eyes landed on the girl. "Eh?! How long have she been there?!"

Miharu turned glum at the question. So not only creepy, but she's also invisible?

"She's not a stranger! She's Miharu-chan, my new friend!" chirped Road.

"I did not ask for her name," responded Devit with little interest.

Tyki put out the cigarette on the ashtray and sighed. "Don't worry. She won't even understand what kind of jobs we were talking about."

A tiny frown formed on her lips. She started to become annoyed at how they're conversing as if she's not present. More than that, she's more annoyed at the fact that they're obviously keeping a secret yet they talk about it so casually in front of her. She knew not to pry in their business though. Road had warned her not to.

"Don't bring your unfinished tasks up now! I'm booored," whined Road again, putting an end at their previous conversation. She stuck the sucker in her mouth and swung her legs back and forth like a little kid.

"Why don't you do your homework, Road?" Tyki suggested.

"Okay!" Road agreed quickly. She pulled out her books and pencil case from her bag and settled herself on the chair, her lollipop still stuck in her mouth. Her droopy eyes scanned the questions typed on the book after she opened it and her right finger spun a pencil repeatedly. In a quick few seconds, Road dropped her pencil and shoved the book away. She heaved a sigh and turned her head towards the twins seated by the door. Her finger pulled the candy out from her mouth to let her speak clearly.

"Help me do it, Jasdero, Devit?" Road asked sweetly with her pleading eyes and pout.

"Sure," answered Devit with a mischievous smirk. He sauntered over and took the opened book and pencil on top of Road's table.

"I'll help too, hee hee!" Jasdero followed suit and took another book and pencil.

Before the two landed the tips of graphite on the paper, their teacher spoke up and froze their actions.

"Road, I thought you knew they will just write all over the page?"

The girl sighed in exasperation. "Right… How could I forgot?" she snatched the book from the two to prevent their immature actions. "I'll just ask Millenie to do them for me later," continued Road.

"Oi! We were trying to be helpful!" Devi slammed the pencil on the table and crossed his arms again.

"Writing 5 all over the pages and desk is not considered as helping," retorted Road. "Only Millenie took my homework seriously." She shoved her lollipop back into her mouth.

Devit scowled deeply. "Oh! He's so unfair towards us! He never did my homework!"

"Mine neither!" Jasdero piped in. the rooster on his head clucked after him, as if approving the statement.

"Oh, you understand, hii!" Jasdero grabbed the rooster from his head and put it down on his lap. "I think I like you! Let's name you! Tee hee hee!"

The rooster clucked louder and flapped its wings. It jumped and escaped Jasdero's lap.

"Hey, where are you going!?"

The blonde chased the chicken around as it jumped around the room, leaving a trail of feathers here and there. The rest of the room occupants, except Miharu, watched in amusement. Well, Miharu had that tiny bit of amusement but she immediately dropped the expression from her face when she saw he chicken headed her way. In her mind, she began to chant "I'm not afraid of chickens" frantically as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. She tried not to panic yet her legs refused to cooperate. As the rooster was about to approach her table, she straightened up abruptly, knocking the chair down in the process, and she stepped sideways to avoid the clucking chicken.

From the corner of her eyes, Miharu could tell that Road and the rest were smirking at the chicken's attempt at assaulting Miharu. As if encouraged by their growing smirk, the chicken flew and settled on Miharu's hair, its beak closed and it began to peck her scalp.

Miharu couldn't contain her panic anymore and she shrieked in horror, her hands flew to the chicken seated on her head, trying to shoo it away while she shook her head like she's crazy. At this, Road and Devit burst out in a fit of giggles and snickers.

"I don't care! Get it off!" Miharu almost screamed, tears of fright brimmed at the corner of her eyes. Again, she thanked her bangs for hiding them.

At her outburst, Road's and Devit's giggles and snickers grew into laughter and her embarrassment grew along with the laughter. Finally, she had succeeded in tearing the chicken's vice grip on her hair. She lost a few strands of hair but she's so relieved that she didn't care and she chucked the chicken across the room.

Jasdero shrieked along with the chicken as it was flung in the air. The barn animal hit the wall and slump down to the floor, unmoving. The blonde's jaw hit the floor in disbelief along with the chicken. Road's and Devit's choruses of laughter died down into chuckles.

"Y-you witch!" The blonde twin called with his index finger pointed towards Miharu. Black tears poured dramatically down his cheeks like waterfalls.

"W-what?" She sputtered. "It was ju-just a chicken!"

"He's innocent!"Jasdero countered.

"It a-attacked me!"

The chicken let out a tiny cluck and Jasdero whipped his head instantly. "You're alive, hii hii!" He cheered while he ran to snuggle the conscious chicken.

"Don't worry! I won't let that witch get you!" Jasdero cooed while his hand stroked the chicken in a coaxing manner. The chicken clucked in reply and said 'witch' could've sworn she saw an evil gleam in the chicken's eyes.

Miharu's lips twisted into a scowl and she returned the chicken's glare with such intensity that her usual creepy aura seeped out. When the room occupants began to notice, she immediately stopped and returned to her seat, acting unaffected.

Her eyes glanced back at the wall clock hung at the back of the class. A tired sigh escaped her lips. Still a whole hour to go. She had to put up with hat chicken's glare for another hour! She swore she's going to get revenge for he earlier assault. Maybe she's going to start off by cooking and eating his kind. Yup, today's dinner will definitely be chicken.

And when Jasdero wasn't looking, she'll steal that chicken and pluck its feathers one by one, behead it, deep fry its puny limbs, and then she's going to eat it. Maybe she'll fatten it before so.

Soon, she pushed those brutal thoughts away and she snapped back in character, back to her emotionless front. From this incident, Miharu concluded that living chickens were despicable. Well, whatever. That chicken probably won't present itself in front of her anymore after detention is over.

"Miharu-chan, you look angry," commented Road.

Miharu lifted her head to meet Road's stare and shook her head, "I-I was just a bit sh-shocked."

"Oh? Are you scared of chickens?" Road asked, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"No, I'm not," answered her sternly, emphasizing the word not.

"But you looked really scared just now," teased Road, a laugh following after.

"I wa-wasn't scared!" She cursed herself for letting her voice shook.

"Sure…" Road drawled sarcastically.

Miharu chose to stay silent and turn her head away, trying to hide the embarrassment that was evident on her face.

Road smirked and giggled lightly at her response. Not long after, she started a new topic.

"Miharu-chan, why did you ditch class? Not that it's a problem but I never took you for that type!"

"E-eh? Umm, I was bored."

"You ditch class often?"

Miharu wasn't sure that it's alright to talk about this here. Mikk-sensei was sitting there hearing Road's and her conversation. He's a teacher. Students don't discuss about things like this with a teacher listening, right?

"Err, no. Not really… Thi-this is the first time I got caught."

"Whoah, you have ditched class before and not get caught?"

"Umm, yes," answered the timid girl a bit unsurely.

"Then you must be good at not being noticed, Miharu-chan!"

Now Miharu wasn't sure whether that was a compliment or insult. What should say in response?

"Ha… ha… ha…" She forced out a laugh. "Uh, what about you, Kamelot-san? What were you doing on the rooftop?"

Everyone's attention and stare shifted to her at her question. She looked confused at their reaction at first but then she realized her mistake. She shouldn't have brought up that topic, knowing that Road had interrogated her about the incident earlier. Her hands moved on its own to tug the hem of her skirt nervously as her mind tried to thought up something to say to get rid of the tense silence.

Jasdero scratched his head. "Did I miss something about the rooftop?" asked him innocently.

Tyki rolled his golden orbs. "It was nothing important."

"…Okay," responded the blonde, still suspicious.

And the agonizingly slow hour passed by with Road munching on her candy, Tyki smoking, Jasdero chasing his new friend around the room, Devit laughing at Jasdero, and a very quiet Miharu.

* * *

The weekend passed by too quickly for Miharu. She felt that it was shorter than usual.

When she got home from detention that Friday, she had chicken for dinner and took a long hot bath to calm her nerves. She hate to admit that she was actually kind of scared of Road. That girl was sweet and cheerful this second then she could suddenly be malicious and threatening the next second. What irked her even more is that the fact that Road's body size is much smaller than her. It seemed pathetic to be frightened of a person smaller to herself.

She was just about to relax and maybe try out one or two new recipes on Saturday but then she remembered of Allen's assignment for her. Half-heartedly she decided to relax on Sunday instead. Little did she know that studying all of Allen's notes would take her the whole weekend. She almost gave at a point yet the image of Allen's disappointed face forced her to study.

She studied till late and as a result she can't wake up in time the next morning. For the first time, Miharu the early riser woke up late.

The girl shot up from her bed the second her eyes landed on the time on her cell phone. She ran to the bathroom and came out five minutes later clad in a white towel. In two minutes, she had put on her uniform with her socks. She grabbed her cell phone and bag and dashed outside after putting on her shoes.

"You haven't brushed you hair!" Her mom yelled. "You left you bento too!"

Too late, Miharu had disappeared in the streets.

The girl ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to tidy it and her other hand checked the time on her cell. Ten minutes to go till class started. She bit her lip and quickened her pace as fast as her legs could. The wind blew her hair back, revealing the pair of eyes that were hidden almost 24 hours a day.

She arrived at the gates seven minutes later, her hair messy and tangled. While panting, she jogged to her class, having no energy to run anymore. The corridor was packed with mass of students trying to get in the classroom and Miharu found herself trapped within the crowd. She sucked in her stomach and squeezed through, muttering "excuse me" along the way.

Suddenly she was pushed by someone from behind, causing her to lose her balance and fell down, bringing the person in front of her down with her.

She was lucky to have someone cushion her fall. Miharu was now sprawled on the person's back while the unlucky guy who was under her was face-planted on the floor. Hearing a pained groan, Miharu opened her eyes and she saw white.

"S-sorry, I—"

Miharu stopped apologizing when the person turned his head around. She gaped at the familiar face. After a few seconds, her slow brain finally registered that their faces were merely inches away.

"W-Walker-san?!"

Her face went scarlet from embarrassment and she pushed Allen's face away from her in reflex. His head hit the floor again with a thud. Allen let out another groan in protest.

"Eek! I-I'm sorry!" Miharu shrieked. She scrambled to get off the boy who was still in a daze from the collision with the floor. "A-are you alright?" asked her worried while her hand extended towards him to help him off the floor.

Allen's face was as red as Elmo. It wasn't red from embarrassment but it was from the impact. His grey eyes blinked a couple of times to clear away the blur and he finally realized that it was Miharu.

He smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Yoshikuni! I'm alright!"

Right after he said that, blood dripped down his nose. Miharu gasped in panic. And the bell rang.

* * *

**Yes, I owe my readers another apology for not updating in a month. Gomenasai, reader-sama! **

**This chapter is longer by a thousand words than my usual chapter! I feel proud somehow hahaha**

**Updates will be up more regularly starting from now onwards. Because I'm away from my family now~ XD**

**I have a question. Does anyone know how to spell Devit's name correctly? I saw many different spellings of his name and I wasn't sure which one was correct. =="**

**Ja mata ne!**


	6. Chapter 6

**D. Gray-Man © Katsura Hoshino**

* * *

In class 2-3, students were seated in their seats. They stopped their chats with each other when the homeroom teacher, Miranda-sensei, came in. Lenalee, who was seated not far away from Allen, glanced at his empty seat, a puzzled look on her face. She turned to her side where Kanda sat and asked.

"Kanda, have you seen Allen-kun this morning?"

An anger mark formed on the samurai's forehead upon hearing her question. "Che. He's so short that I can't see him."

"But I'm about his height. Can't you see me?"

"Che."

Lenalee sighed and shifted her eyes back to the front. She stretched her body to the front and cupped her hands beside her lips.

"Lavi," whispered her rather loudly to attract said male's attention.

The red-head turned behind in acknowledgment.

"Where's Allen-kun?" Lenalee whispered again.

Lavi glanced at Allen's seat and shrugged.

Miranda-sensei began to take their attendance. First on the list was Allen's name and the class went really silent when his name was called.

"Nobody knows where the class rep is?" She asked the class.

Murmurs of "no" came in reply. Their homeroom teacher left his attendance blank and moved on to other names. When Miharu's name was called the same happened.

In her seat, Lenalee spaced out and wondered why they were absent. Were they sick? Or were they just late?

On the other hand, Lavi was suspecting that they might be together at the moment. He had a strong feeling that the girl had feelings for Allen. No, he was positive that the girl liked Allen. It's pretty obvious with her unusual reaction to Allen and all. He freaking saw the girl staring intently at Allen and scribbling down on her sketchbook at class. Sure at first he thought she was picking on Allen as her next 'victim of her curse' but after knowing that she's just shy it all clicked into Lavi's brilliant mind.

Miharu did seem like that type of shy, quiet, awkward girl. If only she fixed her appearance a bit maybe people won't mistook her for a creepy girl.

If it turned out that they were skipping class together, Lavi will tease them about it the whole day. Teasing Allen was so fun. He smiled goofily to himself.

But his silly smile was replaced by a pout when he realized a thing.

How did Allen attract so many chicks? For real, Lavi was so much taller, smarter, and cooler than that bean sprout.

Right, girls?

* * *

"Ah, we're late for class," stated Allen calmly despite the situation.

The hallway were now unoccupied by anybody except the two of them. Allen was still sitting on the floor while Miharu was standing in front of him with her mouth agape from shock. Blood slowly trickled down from his nostrils trailing down his lips and dripped down his chin. He wiped it of with his thumb before it stained his uniform.

"Walker-san, your nose is bleeding!" Miharu zipped open her bag to fish out a pack of tissues. She pulled out a few sheets and helped Allen up before she shoved the tissues in Allen's hand.

"I'm so sorry!" She bowed. "I'm really, really sorry!"

Allen stuffed his nostrils with the tissues and smiled. "It's okay. It didn't hurt!"

"You're lying, Walker-san! You have a nosebleed! Do you need to go to the sick bay? I'll take you there!"

"No, I'm fine! It's not like it's broken. We should hurry. The teachers had entered the class."

Miharu nodded and grabbed Allen's hand to tug him along. But they were going the opposite direction from their class. The boy scratched his head in confusion. "Yoshikuni, the class is that way." He pointed to his back with his other hand.

"We need to make the blood stop first. You can't go to the class with blood on your face! They'll stare at you and ask you what happened and who did that to you! What am I supposed to do then!?" Miharu was near hysterics at that point. It was so out of her character that Allen had a dumbstruck look on his face.

"It'll stop by itself in a couple of minutes…" he answered softly, too amazed by Miharu's outburst to speak normally.

The girl suddenly stopped her step and turned to face Allen. Her face looked seriously worried although it's still red from embarrassment. She opened her mouth then closed it then she opened it again. The words that she was trying to utter were stuck in her throat from panic.

"Umm, What is it, Yoshikuni?" asked Allen after watching her lips parted and closed repeatedly.

"Th-this… This is the first time I've injured a person. Wha-what if you lose too much blood..? Y-you might die from blood loss! And then… They'll arrest me for murder!"

Allen blinked twice and went silent for a couple of seconds before laughter involuntarily erupted from him. Miharu stared at the boy in disbelief. She was terrified and he's laughing? What was he laughing at anyways? Did she sound dumb just now?

"Th-this is not a joke, Walker-san!" She sputtered.

Allen struggled to hold in his laughter, remembering that his laughter might disturb other classes. He inhaled and exhaled a couple of times before he explained slowly to the blushing girl. "I won't die from a tiny nosebleed, Yoshikuni. It'll stop in a few minutes and I'll be alright. It's not that serious."

"Bu-bu-but anything's possible! How can you tell that it's going to stop soon?" countered Miharu.

The white-haired boy sighed in defeat, but his smile was on his face. "Fine, fine. We'll go to the sick bay."

Miharu nodded, grabbed Allen's left deformed hand and dragged him with her once again. For some reason he couldn't tell, his hand felt nice in hers although it's cold. It's been so long since somebody held his red hand and led him the way. Therefore he decided not to speak up about it, though Allen knew if Miharu realized that she's holding his hand she'll most probably quickly let go and back away.

The girl in front of him stopped abruptly and he almost bumped into her. Allen peered over her shoulder and saw that they had stopped at the door of the sick bay. Miharu knocked the door twice with her free hand. Hearing no response from the other side, she twisted the door knob and opened it. The sick bay was empty save for a row of made beds, cabinets of medical supplies, a sink and a sofa.

"The nurse isn't here..?" Miharu asked no one in particular.

"Seems so. That's strange," mused Allen.

"Maybe she's gone to the toilet or something," reasoned Miharu. She let go of Allen's hand and wandered over to the cabinets, searching for something. Allen closed the door behind him and walked over to one of the beds. He seated himself at the edge of it and while waiting for Miharu, he pinched his nose to stop the blood flow.

After waiting for more than a minute, Miharu stopped rummaging the cabinets and turned to face Allen. She scratched her cheek and with a nervous smile, she asked Allen, "Etto, Walker-san… What should I get to stop the bleeding?"

Allen sweatdropped. Why didn't she ask him from the start if she didn't know what to do?

"An ice pack will do."

"Right! Of course!" Umm, where can I get the ice pack?" She asked again.

"Get a small plastic bag and ask for some ice cubes from the cafeteria."

"Okay." Miharu nodded, placed her bag on the floor and pivoted to exit the room. "I'll be back in a bit," said her before closing the door shut.

Once she left, Allen pulled out his phone from his pocket to check the time. He cringed in his seat once he saw that homeroom was almost over. That meant that his attendance wasn't taken. And he'll miss the announcements too. He sighed heavily and questioned himself. What kind of class rep went late to class?

Allen sat there, his fingers still pinched his nose and he let his thoughts wander while he waited for the girl to come back.

* * *

Miharu took long, fast steps along the long, silent corridor leading to the cafeteria. Once she reached the huge double door to it, she slowly swung it open with a creak and slipped in as if she's trying to be discrete.

The various smell of cooking food danced into her nose and it made her eyes dart around, searching for the source. She hadn't gone to the school cafeteria much since it's cheaper to bring her own bento hence she felt unfamiliar with the spacious room. The clean, white walls, the polished wooden floor, the shiny wooden tables and chairs that were neatly organized, that mesmerizing giant chandelier hanged above. It made her feel like she's in a fancy dining hall like the five-stars hotel have. All her previous schools did not have a cafeteria. In fact, she never knew that there were schools in Japan that have such big cafeterias. Black Order High sure is an elite school. She wondered why Allen and his friends chose to eat on the roof when the cafeteria was so big.

"Erm… Good morning, miss."

A voice suddenly spoke up and woke her up from her stupor. She whipped her head to the side and found a foreigner, most probably Indian, with purple hair in a booth. She almost jumped from surprise when she saw him. It was her first time seeing an Indian man with light purple hair. That was very unusual yet it somehow caught her interest.

She averted her stare from his eye-popping hair and bowed in respect to greet him back. "Ah, y-yes. Good morning!"

"Don't you have a class right now?" The man asked. Miharu noted the tall man's feminine tone. She should have misheard it somehow..?

"Y-yes. No! I'm not skipping class! Um, a…classmate of mine…" She began to fidget and toy the hem of her skirt nervously while she tried to explain. "He's bleeding… His nose, I mean."

"Uh-huh. And you're in my cafeteria for..?"

A sweatdrop appeared on the back of Miharu's head. The man was really talking in a feminine fashion. She supposed he swung that way? Not that she had anything against gay men.

"C-can I have an ice pack?" She requested, shooing away her internal judgment.

"Ah. Sure!" The man answered with a bright grin. "Please wait a minute."

He disappeared into the booth and Miharu stayed in her place, waiting for her icepack. Minutes later, the sunglasses-wearing man emerged with the small icepack for her.

"Here you go!" He said, handing her the transparent cold bag of ice cubes.

Miharu thanked the peculiar man and exited the cafeteria. She rushed back to the sick bay with her freezing hands juggling the ice pack. The droplets of water that condensed on the surface of the plastic bag wet her hands, making them a bit slippery.

When she arrived at the door of the sick bay, she wiped one of her hands on her skirt and twisted the doorknob to open the door. Allen was still sitting on the same spot; his head turned when he heard the door creaked. She hobbled towards Allen and passed him the ice pack. The boy released the pinch from his nose and placed the icepack across his nose.

He gave Miharu his trademark warm, polite smile and thanked her. "Thank you."

Miharu was thrown off at the sight of the smile. Different shades of red crept up her neck and face, instantly giving away her embarrassment. Was it only her or did Allen's smile look so dazzling and sparkly like one of those love interest from shoujo manga?

"You're welcome," uttered her reluctantly.

* * *

"D-don't you think it'll look fishy if we enter the class together? Umm, they might think I roped you in to skip class. A-and you're the class rep so it might s-stain your reputation…"

"Relax, Yoshikuni. If we explain everything the teacher will understand."

"Y-yeah. I hope so. I d-don't want another detention."

Allen restrained his laughter into a giggle, a _manly_ giggle, to not disturb the on-going teaching and learning process as they were walking along the corridor where the classes were located along. By now, his nose had stopped bleeding and the first lesson had begun fifteen minutes ago. They missed homeroom and their attendance so they went to the teacher's room to see Miranda-sensei before they went to class.

"How was last Friday's detention?" Allen asked with a teasing tone.

Miharu rolled her eyes under her long bangs. "It was okay. But I prefer studying with Walker-san."

Seconds passed by in silence before the dark-haired girl realized what she had just uttered. Blood rushed up to her face, making her blush for the umpteenth time that morning.

The boy beside her smiled. "Oh. So it's unpleasant, I guess," assumed him. Well, of course it was. Since when was detention meant to be pleasant?

"Speaking of studying, did you read the notes I gave to you?" Allen asked, peering at her through the corner of his eyes.

The girl nodded twice. Well, reading was one thing but understanding was…

"We'll revise them again after school today. In case if you did not understand something."

Allen sure did know her capabilities so well.

It went silent after that until they were at the door of their classroom. Allen raised his hand to knock on the door. He gently opened them and poked his head in before the rest of his body followed. Miharu stepped in after him.

The class was in the middle of a lecture. Krory-sensei was standing in front of the board with a textbook in his hand. He stopped his talk and turned to the two intruders. Their classmates stopped paying attention to their sensei and stared. Miharu's jaw went slack in tension. She did not like the attention.

A loud gasp was heard from the middle of the class. The attention was turned to the person who let out that dramatic gasp. It turned out to be Lavi who has shocked expression on his face. One of his hands was covering his wide agape mouth. It looked somewhat comical despite the tense silence.

"Where were you two from!?" asked Lavi still with that ridiculous look on his face.

"Umm," Allen looked puzzled at the question. "Shouldn't Krory-sensei be the one who do the asking?"

"Where were you two from!?" repeated Lavi.

"…Sickbay," answered Allen shortly.

Lavi let out that dramatic gasp again. "Y-you were together!?" asked him unbelieving.

"Well, yeah… What's wrong with that?" queried Allen, confused.

Loud whispers erupted among the class. They sneaked a worried glance at Allen once in a while. Miharu strained her ears to catch what their saying. Her lips curled downwards slightly and her eyes cast below when she realized that they were whispering about the rumor that she cursed people. Suddenly she felt the need to sit in her corner washed over her. It was really uncomfortable standing in front of the class and being talked about. They could not have thought she tried to curse Allen, right?

Lavi's reaction surprised her though. A goofy grin broke out in his face and he snickered somewhat evilly. "Oh, bean sprout. You're soooo clueless!"

"It's Allen!" corrected him grudgingly.

"Ah, whatever, bean sprout. I can't believe I guessed right. I'm soooo smart that I scared myself," boasted Lavi to himself.

The boy standing in front of the class twitched his eyebrow in irritation. "It's _Allen_!" He repeated, emphasizing his name.

"Umm, we're in the middle of a class. Walker, Yoshikuni, please get back to your seats," reminded Krory-sensei.

Allen and Miharu whipped their heads to their sensei. They noticed his unpleasant expression. Allen smiled nervously and Miharu had her emotionless mask.

"Ah, yes. Excuse me!" Allen bowed. Miharu bowed a little later and they scurried off into their seats.

Once seated, Miharu zipped open her bag and pulled out her textbook and pencil case. She opened a random page and started to doodle on it, not really in a mood to pay attention. This incident had made her less eager to face the day.

She turned her head to the left where the windows were and stared outside. A pink tint appeared on her cheeks as she saw her reflection at the glass pane. At last she remembered that she hadn't brushed her hair this morning. Luckily, her bed hair today wasn't terrible. But it was still messy. She threaded her fingers through her black unruly hair in an attempt to smooth and untangle them.

Then her stomach growled in hunger. Miharu stopped combing her hair and put her forehead on the desk upon remembering that she hadn't had her breakfast yet. And she also forgot to bring her bento that she had prepared last night. She never brought money to school so buying food from the cafeteria was obviously an invalid option.

Don't cry, just deal with it, she soothed herself in her mind. When she got home she can eat to her stomach's content, right? But wait, she had to stay back after school!

Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes as she imagined how hungry she'll be by the end of the day. She's not sure if she can last till evening.

* * *

The lunch bell rung and the teacher left the class. Some students took out their bento while the others went out to the cafeteria to buy their lunches. Allen got up from his seat and stretched. He turned to his side where Lavi sat and asked, "Do you want to go buy lunch?"

"Yeah." The red-head turned to his back where Lenalee and Kanda were seated side by side and offered them to come. Lenalee nodded and Kanda didn't respond but Lavi knew he wanted to and so they got up and went to exit the class.

Before they were out of the class, Lavi glanced back and saw Miharu in the corner, looking glum as usual. She looked like she was staring at one of their classmate's bento while her teeth were busy biting on her fingernails. Lavi stopped and called her out.

"Yoshikuni!"

Said girl and the rest of the class turned their heads to him. The male sweatdropped. Why did everyone turned to him when he called only one person? Last time he checked, there was only one person with Yoshikuni as their last name in this class.

He ignored the others and continued, "Don't you want to eat?"

A visible tint of red appeared on her pale cheeks as she pulled her fingers away from her lips and hid them behind her back as if she was trying to hide something. She opened her mouth and struggled to reply. "Ah, I-I'm not hu-hungry," stuttered her.

Lavi raised his eyebrow quizzically. "Oh, okay," replied Lavi unsurely before he turned back and exited the class to catch up with his friends who had went ahead.

He jogged down the hallway and slowed down his pace when he spotted the trio. "Oi, bean sprout!" He tapped Allen's shoulder from behind.

The boy turned abruptly with an annoyed look and corrected, "_Allen_."

Lavi ignored his protest and began his plan to tease Allen all day. He cleared his throat and began, "So what were you two doing in the sick bay together?" asked him while his eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

Allen still had that pissed off expression on his face but with a hint of confusion. "What were you implying, Lavi?"

The red-head chuckled lightly. "Her hair was a mess this morning when she entered class. What did you do to he—oompf!"

He was cut off by Allen who had elbowed his gut. Hard.

"What was that for!?" complained Lavi, clutching his hurting abdomen.

"I did _nothing_ to her," explained him shortly, emphasizing the word nothing.

"Suuure," drawled Lavi sarcastically. "So she just decided to mess up her hair on purpose."

Allen pinched the bridge of his nose and heaved a frustrated sigh. He knew Lavi won't simply stop bothering him so he decided to explain what happened, hoping that it will shut him up.

"This morning she fell, knocking me down with her to the floor and I sort of face-planted on the floor so my nose bled. Then she took me to the sick bay. That's all."

Lavi cracked an ear to ear grin. "I see… So she fell _on top_ of you…"

Allen rolled his grey eyes. "It's not like what you imagined."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Lenalee out of curiosity, interrupting the two males. They had reached the door of the cafeteria. Kanda opened it and entered and the three remaining tailed him to the queue.

"Nothing," answered Allen too quickly that it seemed suspicious.

Lavi snickered at Allen. "Actually, we were talking about him and Yoshikuni."

The shorter male sent a death glare to Lavi's direction, hoping that it will shut him up. He responded with a mischievous smirk.

Lenalee looked clueless as to what was going on. "What about Yoshikuni?"

"Nothing, right, Allen?" Lavi beamed at Allen while he nudged him.

Allen stayed silent and his death glare intensified.

The only girl in the group shrugged. "Speaking of Yoshikuni, where is she? Let's ask her to eat lunch together."

Lavi's grin dropped and he answered blandly, "She said she's not hungry."

"Eh? She doesn't want to eat?" Allen asked a bit worried. The threatening glare on his face was wiped off. "But we have to stay back after school. She'll get hungry if she doesn't want to eat!"

Lavi's teasing smirk came back, much to Allen's disappointment. "Aww! Bean sprout is worried about Yoshikuni!" He batted his eyelids femininely in a mock innocent gesture.

Allen scowled and elbowed the red-head again. "It's my duty as the class rep!"

"Quit it, you two!" scolded Lenalee with an anger mark on her cheek. "Well, I'm a bit worried as well about her. It's unusual for her not to eat lunch…"

"Yeah," agreed Allen. "She always brings her homemade bento with her, right?"

"It's your turn, woman." Kanda referred to Lenalee. He had his packaged cold soba and green tea with him.

"Ah, okay." Lenalee stepped forward and the rest of the queue followed. She made her order and paid to Jerry and turned back to Allen and Lavi. "Umm, Allen-kun, why don't you ask her to eat?"

"Okay… Wait, why me?"

"Because you're the class rep," replied Lavi with his cheerful grin.

"Fine…" Allen mumbled with a pout.

Lenalee followed Kanda once her order was out. Allen placed his humongous order and patiently waited. Thank God that Jerry was gay so Allen could 'bribe' him to give Allen a discount on every meal. Without the discount, he'll be very broke and hungry by now. Nobody except Allen and Jerry will know how Allen bribed Jerry though. Allen had his gentlemanly pride to uphold.

"Here's your food, Allen!" Jerry handed him the huge plastic bag filled with food in their containers.

Allen smiled in gratitude and thanked him sincerely before he left to class. On the way to class, he stopped by a vending machine to buy drinks. He took his two bottles of mineral water and head back to class.

In the class, Miharu was in her seat, looking awkward and a bit creepy as expected. Allen took hesitant steps to approach her desk. He dragged a chair and sat across her, setting his huge bag of food on her table.

The girl and the rest of the class look startled as Allen took a seat in front of her. Miharu sensed he stares from her classmates and she began to fidget in her seat uncomfortably. Allen rummaged his bag of food and pulled out a container and a pair of chopsticks. He pushed them in front of Miharu.

Miharu looked up at Allen and the transparent food container confused. Allen smiled brightly which made her blush lightly.

"I told you that you have to try Jerry's food, right? Go on! Take a bite!" Allen took out another container and opened it, saying "_Itadakimasu!_" before he dug in.

Miharu continued to look at the food inside the container blankly. Deep down, she was really tempted to open it and gobbled them up like how Allen did but she's a bit embarrassed to do so. Allen bought this with his money and she did not bring any money to pay Allen for this.

"You won't get full by just staring at it. Eat it! I promise you it's reaaaally good!" said Allen with his mouth full.

"I-I don't bring any money," muttered Miharu with her head down.

Allen smiled when he finally heard Miharu spoke out. "It's my treat then!"

"Are you sure it's okay..?"

He nodded eagerly before he shoved another mouthful of food.

Miharu reluctantly opened the lid of the container and stare at the steaming _yakisoba_ in it. It smelled as good as it looked and she wondered if it tasted good too. She felt saliva collecting in her mouth at the thought. Her hand slowly moved to pick up and split the wooden chopsticks.

"_Itadakimasu…_" mumbled her before she took a bite.

The moment the food entered her mouth, her eyes widened in shock. Allen couldn't see it but he could tell by how Miharu froze in place. She then continued to chew and swallow it, marveling at the taste of heaven in her mouth, before she opened her mouth to ask a question.

"Who is Jerry?"

Allen grinned widely. "He's the school cook."

Miharu's jaw dropped in surprise. She didn't expect the school to hire an excellent chef. Wait… the school chef… Don't tell her that the school chef was the purple-haired man from before!

"Is he the Indian man with purple hair?"

"Yup!"

Miharu mentally face palmed. She did not see this coming. She never knew a chef with long purple hair existed. It's not like she did not like the chef's purple hair. It's…fabulous, she thought but she was just surprised, that's all.

"His food tasted really delicious, right?"

She nodded in reply and resumed eating as calmly as possible. It was really hard to eat at a normal pace when the food was really tasty and her stomach was grumbling.

"I'll treat you again if you can pass the mid-terms, Yoshikuni."

Miharu stopped eating again and looked at Allen, puzzled. Was he trying to motivate her?

"Only if you pass the mid-terms though," repeated Allen with a taunting smirk.

The dark-haired girl blushed bright red at his smirk and pretended to be unaffected by shoving a big bite of _yakisoba_ in her mouth.

* * *

**Here's another extra long chapter! I might not be able to update for two weeks (homeworks TTATT) so I hope this long chapter will make up for it. I hope you did not get bored while reading it =v= **

**Anyway, thank you for reading! And special thanks for anyone who reviewed, alerted and faved! XD**

**See you next chapter!**


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